Was anyone else unpleasantly surprised to find out how much bridal stores will try to charge you for accessories like shoes and veils? I knew they would be marked up, but I didn’t realise quite how much, and how extensively. When I bought my dress in Canada they offered to sell me the veil I tried on along with it, but I was already wayyyy over budget thanks to the lace bolero I’d splurged on too. I figured that was something I could easily pick up after doing some shopping back in Sydney, and that it might actually work out cheaper to wait and see what the price range was like.
Ha! HA. HAHAHAHAHA.
Yep, bridal store to bridal store in whatever country you’re visiting, veils are expensive.
And while I would love to go a little bit mental and snap up the most crystal-encrusted, satin flowing veil I could find, I’m on a budget. And as far as our budget for the whole day is concerned? The veil is not the highest priority for me. I know I want one, but I’m fairly sure that I’ll be wearing it for the ceremony and some photographs only—I always imagined I’d be a veil-free girl at the reception, to let my hair down {so to speak} at the end of a long day.
So…there was my dilemma. I wanted a veil, but I didn’t want to spend a lot. My next option was to see if I could re-use a veil that someone else had worn and loved on their wedding day; my very own ‘something borrowed’ that would be thrifty AND meaningful. I still love this idea, actually. If you know anyone willing to share, drop me a line!
Until I found a veil. It was perfect: one tier, sheer fabric, basic satin lining at the base & sat perfectly at my fingertips. I immediately shoved it straight into my hair, twirled around for a bit, and decided I was done. The veil, I has it. I lovingly carried it upstairs, and debated where to put it—especially tricky since Mr. Jaguar and I were moving the following day, and I didn’t want it stored anywhere that he would accidentally discover it.
That’s when my genius struck: I’ll keep it in with my wedding dress! If there was one thing the boy is sure not to go near, it’s the garment bag. It’s perfect! I placed the veil back in its packaging, hung it up over the dress hanger, tucked it into the garment bag as far as it would go, and quickly pulled up the zipper to seal it in, safe as can be.
{insert ripping sound effect}
Errrrr. So, um, the zipper caught on the veil packaging on the way up. And not only did it get the packaging, it also caught on the actual netting, too. Yup, I tore a hole in my brand new veil. And you can tell just how new the darn thing was, by the fact that I didn’t even have the time to take a picture of it in my hair! Not a single picture!
Epic fail.
What I failed to mention here is the cost of said-ruined-veil. Thankfully, I refrained from buying the veils I’d found in stores. Instead, I scoured eBay for the cheapest (and still nicest looking) one I could find – and I’d forked out less than ten bucks for the thing. Not the point though…I could’ve kicked myself for throwing a good thing away like that!
I’m still on the lookout for the perfect (affordable) veil, but in the meantime, do tell: did you have any unexpected disasters during your wedding planning?
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